S1: Hey there , San Diego. It's Andrew Bracken in for Jade Hindman on today's show. This week marks the second annual San Diego Climate Week. As San Diego endures another heat wave , we hear about what our region can do to prepare for a warmer future , plus how Tijuana River sewage continues to raise calls for cleaner air. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. For anyone in and around San Diego these last few days can probably be summed up in a couple of words intense heat. While high temperatures should be going down soon , much of San Diego County remains under an extreme heat warning until tomorrow night. Over the past several days , cities across the county have seen record high temperatures. One example , San Diego International Airport , reached a record high of 105 degrees on Saturday. The heat waves we've experienced this summer and fall now have gotten many of us thinking more about heat and what we can do to prepare for a potentially warmer future. Here I'm joined now by Darby Berry. She's the director of the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative at the University of San Diego. Hey , Darby. Welcome. Hi.
S2: Hi. Thanks for having me.
S1: Great to have you here. So again , we're making our way through this latest heat wave. Now , as someone who thinks a lot about our climate and the issues around it , how much impact do these recent heatwaves have on how you think about climate change right now?
S2: Yeah , I think one of the things that's really important for us to understand is that climate is no longer a future challenge for us to navigate. We're navigating the impacts of a changed climate right now. And I think , you know , one of the opportunity areas for us is that this heat is really visceral , and it's something that everyone is feeling , and I think it should be a motivator for us to have a better conversation about solutions now that work for our communities.
S1: I mean , so yeah , that's really interesting cause I did want to ask you about that future tense versus present tense , because I agree , I feel that same. This summer has just like kind of opened folks eyes in different ways. Um , obviously these things have been happening for decades and years and the factors contributing to them , but what would that mean then , if we're kind of thinking of it more like a today , you know , thing as opposed to in the future prevent , you know , prevention problems?
S2: Yeah , I think a lot of our conversational discourse around climate change has always been around greenhouse gas emission reductions , you know , reducing our impacts. And , you know , mitigating for specifically , you know , the greenhouse gases we're seeing in the atmosphere that are contributing to that larger warming. Um , but a lot of the work that I do and a lot of the , you know , what heat can help us understand is with adaptation and resilience , right? You know , even if we stop all of our greenhouse gas emissions right now and we have we're hit zero , we're still locked into a certain amount of warming that we're going to anticipate over time. And so what we need to do is start thinking about solutions that can adapt to the heat impacts that we're experiencing now and into the future. Um , because , you know , when we think about it , if we put in solutions , the best way to think about adaptation is we want that system to not fail. Right. But also we want that system to be something that betters our communities. And at the end of the day , if we plant more trees , we put in more shade , we have better parks and access to cooling spaces , even if we do a lot of work on climate change , and those impacts in the future are not as strong , we still have better shaded , cooled green spaces for our communities. Right. And so it's not always just about what are we doing in this now? But how is that going to have us a better future in that climate change future?
S1: So you are the director of the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative. Tell us more about what that is. And just sort of , you know , the work you do with it. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. The Climate Collaborative has been around since 2011. We are largely a city for a network for cities , public agencies , nonprofits , academic partners working on climate action. So really a lot of what we do is once that climate action plan has been passed at our local agencies , we work with those , you know , staff and partners to help implement those plans , right? A lot of our planning processes are just the first phase of doing the work and the hard work that needs doing and the climate collaborative. We have over 70 member organizations. We serve about 1000 individuals across the region working on climate action in different aspects of the work and really trying to do , you know , not reinvent the wheel every time we're doing work across the region , learning from other places , seeing who's doing , you know , the work best and how we can bring that into the San Diego region to support our communities.
S1: Got it. So you're working with different cities , different agencies , you know , across this issue. This obviously covers so much. Um , you mentioned climate action plans , and I want to kind of talk a little bit about those because first thing that comes to mind is like the City of San Diego Climate Action Plan. I know cities have their own climate action plans. Can you tell us more about what's included in those and why? Yeah , the argument for them like why are they important? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Well , the San Diego region has been a leader in developing climate action plans globally. I think the city of Chula Vista was one of the first cities in the nation to adopt a climate action plan , and our cities have been working on , you know , different elements of their climate action plan since , you know , the early 20 tens. The city of San Diego has an incredibly ambitious climate action plan that sets , you know , goals that are even above and beyond the state of California goals. But our climate action plans broadly look at helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions , and also think about strategies that cities can either implement through policies , you know , to help reduce those greenhouse gas strategies , or also through projects that are going to , you know , reduce those greenhouse gases and also maybe pull some of them out of the atmosphere thinking , you know , planting trees helps us to pull them out of the atmosphere , whereas reducing the number of people in , you know , single single owner cars is reduces those greenhouse gas emissions. So those are the types of policies you can see across climate action plans. The benefit in our region is our region is incredibly collaborative. A lot of our cities and public agencies work together. Sandbags done an incredible job also putting in some leadership to support the cities as they develop these climate action plans. And so there's a lot of alignment across all of the cities in the county who have their climate action plans in the region. I think 18 out of the 19 jurisdictions in our region have an adopted climate action plan. And then we also see different types of climate action plans and resilience plans at some of our special districts , like the Port of San Diego or the airport , have their own plans for climate action planning , which I think is really important. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Um , so you mentioned the City of San Diego Climate Action Plan and particularly how ambitious it is. Um , I think , you know , earlier this summer , my colleague Andrew Bowen reported on how the city is doing and , you know , kind of falling behind on some of its climate action goals , particularly , I think , you know , to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. Do you feel that's a realistic goal for the city to achieve in the next , what , like six years at this point?
S2: Yeah , I think I had a conversation with some colleagues about this recently , and I think it's really important for us to set goals. Um , period. I think if we set a goal and we're not able to reach it , we're always going to be falling further and further behind. So the further ahead that we set that target for ourselves , the more ambitious and more innovative we have to think and that we have to do in order to reach these goals. I think there's also we've seen a lot of setbacks in a lot of our climate action planning over the last few years , with a lot of the federal rollbacks that made a really big impact on , you know , how we can implement some of the policies , programs and processes that will make big impacts to , you know , meeting those greenhouse gas emissions targets? Right. Um , we see a good example is the federal rollback on the EV vehicle rebates. We saw a dramatic drop in the number of new EV owners in the fall of 2025 post that federal rollback. So when you think about it , the cities only have jurisdiction or ownership or , you know , the ability to implement some of those policies. And a lot of our other , you know , programs and actions rely on us as individual people to be able to , you know , take action as well in partnership with our public agencies. And so , you know , we've seen some of those challenges are , I think , multifaceted and what cities can implement versus what , you know , local citizens can do. And then also navigating that. I think for us at a time now during , you know , an affordability crisis is also a really.
S1: Important you said it. I mean , and that's that kind of whatever like duality there of just like the big picture and what and then what we can do. I do want to talk more about that , but just , you know , first can you just , you know , this idea of heat resilience. Can you explain more what that is just for you , you know , just so we better understand it? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. I mean , I think everyone can really think about , you know , heat mitigation means cooling down , right? I think , you know , it's cool to stay cool. Fortunately , we have some cool language to , to talk about heat strategies , which is great. But at the end of the day , you know , there's a lot of integrated strategies we can take when thinking about heat. There are physical infrastructure strategies like , you know , implementing more shade and , you know , at bus stations or , you know , different community parks , um , putting in water fountains and , you know , usable water fountains or cooling spaces are really helpful. And then there's also policy things that we can do , you know , maybe having mandated indoor air quality air temperatures. I know the city of LA and the county of LA passed an ordinance , I think , last year on mandating indoor temperatures , you know , for livability and safety. Um , and then there's also , you know , education campaigns. Right. I think when we feel the extreme heat or living in San Diego , you know , a lot of folks don't have access to air conditioning , right? Um , they don't , you know , not even , like a lot of our spaces that we're moving into might not be air conditioned. So there's that , you know , inability to cool down altogether. Um , and I think , you know , we're seeing more , uh , heat overnight , too , which is a problem. And I think the education component is really important because people have experienced heat waves. But now that we're experiencing them at a different capacity , intensity and duration , Our bodies are reacting differently , so our baseline for how to navigate a heat wave is also shifting. And that's why education about how you can pull yourself down. You know resilience strategies are really great. The other thing about heat strategies I'd love to highlight is that they're all a yes and win. I think for our communities , you know , again , at the end of the day , people really want to see more trees. They want to see more safe green spaces. We want to see , you know , shade at park and play structures so kids can go outdoors. These are just general , you know , things that I think most people want to see in their livable community. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. So you mentioned air conditioning there. You mentioned just kind of the changing nature of our heat. I mean , how would that come up and be addressed in like heat resilience? Like how would that come up in the climate action plan , for example , or something like what would you like to see?
S2: Yeah , so we're working with a couple of cities right now on developing heat adaptation plans and heat action plans for those cities. And what we're learning is that a lot of the strategies for heat action live actually across all other plans and plan processes that cities have. You know , again , you know , we want to see more shade Street. Shade trees. That's probably already in most of our climate action plan goals as well. Right. So a lot of these strategies that we can implement meet other goals in addition to , you know , the strategies that might be in a standalone heat action plan. Um , yeah.
S1: You also kind of talked about how some other communities have been handling heat , and some like the creative ways they've kind of been exploring that. Can you tell us a couple examples of what you've seen other cities , other communities try?
S2: Yeah , I think the city of Phoenix has done a really incredible job specifically integrating art and community into their process. They did a really great design competition to design , you know , different art installations that also double as shade structures that also speak to , you know , their southwest heritage. I think they've got a great saguaro cactus shade structure design. So in the community , it's bringing that cultural art that , you know , visually , you know , complementary design process , as well as providing shade to those individuals who are standing underneath it and near it. There's also been some really great community projects that have been done. The city of Boston is also one that we're looking at and learning from a lot of their leadership with their mystic ready Boston , and they're wicked cool. Boston is also what their project is called , and they've done a great job working with communities to then design those solutions. And that's a lot of the models that we're trying to follow in our project.
S1: What are the biggest challenges to bringing those things here to San Diego?
S2: Funding is always the biggest challenge , but I think , you know , with heat solutions , what we're finding is the price tag ticket is a lot easier to swallow than maybe for other big infrastructure projects. If you can think about putting , you know , more shade structures at a community or a daycare center is a , you know , a very different price tag than maybe , you know , doing sand or beach nourishment when we're talking about another climate adaptation project. So I do think there's a really great opportunity to utilize heat adaptation structures to help communities understand , you know , it's it does pay off dividends. Right. I think the the leading number right now is for every dollar invested in climate adaptation , we save $13 on disaster response. And you know that we can see with these solutions and these projects as well. Um , the other thing is also just navigating how they might be permitted. Right. Um , you know , bus shelters are actually really challenging to implement because they have to meet certain specific design and Ada , Ada and accessible criteria. Um , whereas maybe we can get more creative with , you know , putting in , you know , different art structures or finding different design solutions that can have those co-benefits , um , that we haven't thought about before. And so I think that's where we see a lot of opportunity.
S1: Earlier you mentioned this sort of like macro and micro or that's kind of like how I'm thinking about it , right? The macro is of course , this governmental level is huge , you know , building new public transportation , whatever. Um , but , you know , what about us at the individual level? Like , do you have advice on how folks can have a bigger impact? Can , you know , like take this question of heat resilience? Um , yeah. To the household level to like , yeah , yeah.
S2: I think first and foremost , education , you know , trying to understand how heat impacts our bodies and how you can cool down your home. You know , there's a lot of great resources out there of trying to , you know , cool down your home early , you know , cover shades , you know , create , you know , not let a lot of sunlight into your home. Um , creating that cooling space , a lot of it is also community resilience. So knowing your neighbors , calling your neighbors , checking in on the people who live around you , who maybe don't have air conditioning or resources. Um , and then also , you know , acknowledging maybe how can you help those community members? You know , there are cool zones available , but not everyone has transportation or access to get to those places. So I think starting with that nuclear , how can I , you know , support my family and then how can I work out from there to my neighbors? And then maybe looking at my community center or my children's daycare and seeing how can I help them think about a new shade structure for outside , or we need a better water fountain , or more of them for the kids and , you know , individuals outside. So I think there's a lot of those micro solutions that we have a lot of agency over.
S1: Well , I appreciate you kind of talking about it , because I do think this is something that's just been on our minds. I mean , I've been thinking about it from the last heat wave and now we're in another one. So I don't know , it's just I appreciate you kind of like kind of delving into this a little bit more with us. I've been speaking with Darby Berry. She's director of the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative at the University of San Diego. Darby , thanks so much.
S2: Thanks for having me.
S1: At the height of the summer heat wave last month , Donovan State Prison went into lockdown. Several incarcerated people say officials at the prison can find them to their cells , even as temperatures soared indoors. South Bay reporter Corey Suzuki says it highlights a statewide crisis. And advocates and lawmakers have been sounding the alarm for years.
S3: From the main road , the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility is hard to see. The state prison is in Otay Mesa along the southern edge of San Diego County. It's kind of tucked away down the street from a scrap yard and a few Amazon warehouses. What you can't tell from the street is just how hot it gets here.
S4: It's stifling. It's stifling and highly frustrating.
S3: Lonnie Cantos has been incarcerated at Donovan for five years. We're speaking over the phone in California. Most incarcerated people can make outgoing phone calls. Cactus is a former lawyer from Orange County. He says they've seen a lot of hot days inside this summer , especially since there's no air conditioning in his housing unit.
S4: All you can do when you're in the cell is , is , you know , try to keep cold water on your body , like I said , you know , wet a towel and and keep keep letting it and keep , you know , wrapping it around your neck.
S3: Last month , though , was different. A brutal September heat wave brought a mix of intense heat and humidity to San Diego County in Otay Mesa at. Temperatures soared to 100 degrees during that time. Kolkata says prison officials placed their housing unit on lockdown , in some cases for multiple days at a time. Kolkata says officers kept them in their cells , restricting their access to large fans , ice , water and cooler areas like the day room.
S4: I mean , you can look out the window in the cell door and see the day room and see these fans blowing , but if you're on lockdown , you can't. You can't do anything. You can't get to them.
S3: KPBS spoke with two other incarcerated people at Donovan , Brian Christman and Grant , who asked us not to share his last name because he's worried about retaliation. Both of them described similar conditions. Grant says the thermometer in his cell reached as high as 94 degrees in total. Cactus and Grant estimate that they were on lockdown for 3 to 6 days during the heat wave. Christman says it was more like two weeks. State prison officials confirmed to KPBS that they did implement lockdowns during the heat wave. In an email , the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said staff were still following their heat plan , a special protocol that state prisons are supposed to follow when it hits certain temperatures outside. But the incarcerated people say Donovan wasn't consistently following those steps. CDCr didn't respond to specific questions and wouldn't agree to an interview. The accounts from Donovan also line up with concerns at other state prisons.
S5: What the people you spoke with described as a very common experience that people incarcerated in state prisons have.
S3: Eric Henderson is with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland. He says incarcerated people are relying almost entirely on the state to protect them.
S5: If you or I got really hot , we could turn on the air conditioner or we could turn on the fan. We could help ourselves to some water. We could access ice or a cooling center. And many of the same preventative and protective measures are simply not available to incarcerated people.
S3: That's partly because California's state prisons are 50 years old on average. Henderson says many of them are made from concrete and other materials that don't protect from extreme temperatures. Three out of four. Prisons also don't have traditional air conditioning. State inspectors have also found CDCr doesn't keep consistent records of how hot and cold it gets at each person , even though they're supposed to. CDCr does have its heat plan , but advocates say that protocol is old , too.
S6: There's some major flaws in what it does and doesn't account for.
S3: Lillie Harvey is with the Prison Law Office , a nonprofit legal firm in Berkeley. It was one of their lawsuits that forced CDCr to develop a heat plan back in the 90s. But Harvey says the plan doesn't go far enough. For example , it lists certain cooling methods like ice , water and fans , but doesn't require the use of specific measures that Harvey says leaves many people facing uncomfortable levels of heat.
S6: The reports we get also go far beyond discomfort. I've received multiple letters from people in different institutions describing this feeling like a fish out of water and and asthma attacks and increased seizure activity , things like that. And people are scared.
S3: Harvey says CDC's heat plan also doesn't say anything about what should happen during lockdowns , as climate change brings more intense heat waves to California , incarcerated people in their advocates are pressing the state to take action. Harvey says it feels like those calls are finally gaining traction. Earlier this year. State Assembly member Mike Gibson proposed a bill called Adrian's Act. It would have required CDCr to overhaul its cooling measures statewide and install air conditioning and heat monitors. Gibson named the bill after Adrian Boulware , who died in state custody two years ago during a heat wave in the Central Valley. Gibson told an assembly committee she was less than a year away from going home.
S7: Her death is not just a statistic , it is a tragedy. A warning that the status quo is failing and the inaction has real human consequences.
S3: Lawmakers failed to move Gibson's bill forward this spring. Advocates say they're going to try again next year in Otay Mesa this weekend. Temperatures soared again to almost 100 degrees. Kaori Suzuki , KPBS news.
S1: You can join us on Friday's roundtable for an interview with Corey Suzuki. For more on this story and a behind the scenes look into how he reported it. Up next. Today is California Clean Air Day. We'll talk about how Tijuana River pollution is impacting air quality. Stay tuned. Midday returns after the break. Welcome back. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bracken in for Jade Heineman. Today is California Clean Air Day and as part of San Diego Climate Week , Local organizers are putting on events to bring greater awareness to air pollution and its impact on public health. That includes an air summit at Balboa Park. I'm here with Tiffany Curry. She's a public policy coordinator with the nonprofit Outdoor Outreach and a co-leader of the Tijuana River coalition. At this year's Air Summit , she'll be performing as part of the musical duo Laura and Tiffany. Tiffany , welcome to the show. Wow.
S8: Wow. Thanks so much for having me.
S1: Well , thanks for being here. Also with us is Ben Rico. He led a study published by Science Magazine about how the Tijuana River river sewage crisis has impacted air quality in our region. He also has a PhD in atmospheric chemistry from UCSD. Ben , welcome to you.
S9: Thank you. Andrew , thanks for having me as well.
S1: So before we get into details , you know , just I'm curious , what does clean air mean for you? How do you define it in your own life? Tiffany? Hmm?
S8: Hmm? Well , I spent a lot of time working on the Tijuana River pollution crisis. And so that's definitely influenced my definition. I think being able to go outside without wearing a respirator or worrying about if you're breathing in toxins , um , would , would be cleaner. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Ben , I mean , I think , you know , air is just something we tend to take for granted , at least , like clean air. But , you know , talk to me about how this issue of clean air kind of came , you know , arose for you.
S9: Yeah , I mean , I , I've lived in San Diego for about ten years now , and I've always heard about this crisis going on in the South Bay. Um , and as you know , in grad school , as being a part of the breakthrough group who is involved in atmospheric research. Um , you know , we sort of had during the time that I was there as a grad student , we sort of transitioned from a lot of climate research , although they still do that , uh , towards really focusing on this issue that's so close to home. Um , and , you know , we we just kind of shift our attention to air and water quality over there and realized just how big of an issue it is. And I think we all just took it to heart. And , you know , they continue to to continue this research today.
S1: And the research you're involved in , I mean , it really , um , you know , it took an issue , the Tijuana River sewage crisis. We knew it was a problem for years and years and years , but it was always like water quality and the impacts the pollution was having , um , and didn't include the air. But , you know , this study that , that you took part in really found strong impacts on the air. What did you find out?
S9: Yeah , I mean , I think like the biggest finding that we all kind of took away from this as researchers is that really our findings corroborated what the community has been saying for a long time. You know , this is a not a new crisis. And the community has been has been suffering through it for a long time and have been complaining about it. And really we just put numbers to it , right? And we we backed it up with , with scientific evidence. And those findings were during that that summer campaign , we found hydrogen sulfide levels to be over 4500 parts per billion. And to give you some reference , typical urban standard or typical urban levels are less than one part per billion. Then when we compare that to , um , you know , California , California air quality standards , you know , for a one hour average , we were seeing , uh , levels over 2100 parts per billion , where the , the official air quality standard is 30 parts per billion. So quite a bit higher , not just in magnitude but sustained for long periods of time.
S1: And you said , you know , a lot of this came up from just members of the community saying , hey , something's not right here. And you like , as you mentioned , just putting the numbers on it. Can you talk more about that collaboration and you know how you brought the community into that research?
S9: Oh , they were. They were huge , hugely important in this whole process , in our entire campaign and remain , uh , hugely important through this , um , through our reach , you know , through the research that's going on. Um , you know , the the big thing that I can say is a big finding from our publication was the identification of the Saturn Boulevard hotspot , which we identified and found through our communication and asking about or asking residents about this issue and how it affects them. You know , personally , um , as we were getting ready for this campaign , a colleague of mine and I , uh , Justin Hamlin , we went around setting up a network of air quality sensors around the around the region and some of the locations that we set up and were residents homes. And they allowed us to set up our sensors. And every time we went , you know , I asked , what does it smell like? Um , you know , when does it smell and or smell the worst , and where does it coming from? And really , through that line of questioning. We were able to be directed to this hotspot that the surrounding community , the local community knew about the whole time. And , you know , us , just the scientists coming in. They are the ones who who drove this and and helped us identify it. And sure enough , they were right.
S1: And yeah , I'm going to talk a little bit more about that , that hot spot. I mean , I've heard the smell described as like rotting eggs or and is that the hydrogen sulfide?
S9: Ultimately that is the hydrogen sulfide. Yeah. It has a very strong odor of of rotten eggs. Um , it's commonly described. Um , and , you know , one thing we touched on in the paper is like , yes , it has it is the most offensive to our olfactory systems. Right? It is a has a nasty smell , but there are plenty of other industrial and , and other breakdown products that are being emitted from that spot and from the river and the wastewater and industrial waste in general that you can't smell and that , um , you know , hydrogen sulfide in itself has problems and has its issues , but it's a it's also a a sign of much larger issues than other things.
S1: And potential impacts on health. Exactly.
S9: Exactly. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Tiffany , you're part of the Tijuana River coalition. It's made up of , you know , dozens of community groups all looking to , you know , add awareness to the sewage crisis and , and its impacts. Tell us more about the work you're doing there and what change you want to see. Mm. Yeah.
S8: Yeah. I'm honored to be a co-leader of the Tijuana River coalition. Um , I work with Outdoor Outreach , which is a San Diego based nonprofit. We've been around for over 25 years , um , serving youth and connecting them to the transformative powers of the outdoors. And we're committed to addressing barriers to accessing nature. And the 200 river pollution crisis is a massive and chronic barrier to safely interacting with the outdoors for many of the youth and families that we serve. So that's kind of our lane in the coalition. Our our lens that we look through is equitable outdoor access. And in that work , I'm able to help convene over 65 organizations local businesses , youth advocates , agencies and local elected officials to help advocate for solutions. And the goal really is to amass power and bring attention to a crisis that has been ignored largely for decades.
S1: Yeah , and you mentioned just this outdoor space of it , not only , like not being accessible , but having this , you know , beautiful area potentially being dangerous for for folks too , right? Yeah. Um , Tiffany in , you know , in addition to your professional life , uh , as you know , working on policy , working with nonprofit there , you're also an artist. And I'm just wondering if you can tell us more about your music and how you bring that together with the work you do in the community there. Yeah.
S8: Yeah. First , it's an honor to be able to bring the two together. In my personal time , I love to create. I have a best friend , Laura Ellison. We've been best friends for over ten years and just started making music together about three years ago. And I think it came at a time when I was getting deep into the work and the advocacy , and I really needed a creative outlet and was tapping into that. Those inner childhood dreams of being a pop star. And my best friend just so happened to have those same goals. And so , um , for us , music in politics are intertwined and they can never be fully separated from one another. And so for us , our music is a way to process experiences , emotions that we carry , our community carries and hopefully bring folks together and a sense of solidarity , or at least feeling seen and heard in the weight that can come with paying Attention.
S1: Well , let's take a let's take a listen to here. Here's a clip from your song Red line that you'll be performing at the Air Summit later today.
S10: All these highbrow folks sitting in a room in the city caught fire last night in my shoebox house. The QR codes glow toned up black and white , but oh , no.
S1: That's again. That was Red Line by Laura and Tiffany. Um , it's really , really nice , but I'm just wondering if you can talk more about , you know , you're telling us how these worlds intersect for you. Break it down for us in this song. How do you see it?
S8: Yeah , yeah. Red line , um , was written almost two years ago now , and it probably took us six months to write and finish because of all of the topics we cover in it. I'm a very heavy , but originally the the opening of this song talks about a meadow field and long dry paths and then coming to see the border wall. And that verse came to me and was really inspired by Border Field State Park in the Tijuana River Valley. I spent a good amount of time down there in my professional role , and there is a visual there that has always stuck with me. If you've ever gotten the chance to go down to Border Field , there's the wall and you're right next to it , and it extends from the land actually into the water. And one of the first times I was ever there , I watched birds fly back and forth over the wall. And I also watched dolphins swim across the so-called border. And on the way home , I was just thinking how brutal and beautiful the space is. And so we were inspired to just talk about how far is too far and when are we all going to come together and unite and use our voices to put an end to all of these different forms of violence that our communities are facing.
S1: Ben , what do you think is missing in conversations about clean air , especially , you know , after you've had this experience working with community members and seeing its like impacts here in San Diego. Like what jumps out to you?
S9: I mean , specifically for the Tijuana River crisis , I think the big thing is the community voices matter , right? We that is a large part of a piece of data that we have to take seriously and incorporate it , incorporate into our decision making at both the local , state and federal level. Um , you know , because as I mentioned , they drove this research. We just confirmed what they were doing , you know , what they were saying and complaining about for so long. Um , you know , their voices are real , and we have to listen to them.
S1: Tiffany , you know , you're talking about your own experience there and the impact it's had on you. I'm just wondering , like , how do you think people can best get involved in , in this , you know , get improved clean air and to improve the communities there.
S8: I think the biggest threat to this crisis into our communities is apathy. So the first and foremost thing that we need everyone to do is pay attention and to have conversations. And I know that climate change and air quality issues are is a global threat , and it feels huge and overwhelming. But the goal of Climate Week is really to bring this back down to the local level and to root in caring for each other. And one very simple way that folks can get involved is to show up in November to the midterm elections , and to vote yes on measure B so that we can get long term funding to help our community members.
S1: We're going to be talking more actually about measure B in just a couple of minutes on the show. Wonderful. Ben , you know , in about the minute we have left here , what changes would you like to see? Are there any that you're like , ah , underway that are encouraging you right now? Yeah.
S9: Yeah. You know , there's a number of items that have resulted as a , um , you know , following our , our work that we're very happy about. But , you know , you know , the , the one that immediately happens and was kickstarted was the distribution of the air filters , um , for to the surrounding community. And I think that was that was an awesome step forward. But , you know , that's really a Band-Aid for fixing a larger issue. And and , you know , I've mentioned it , it comes down to collaboration from the state , local and federal levels and both sides of the border to be able to address this and allocate the proper funding and resources for upgrading facilities , to be able to handle this and not just be able to handle the current , um , you know , current burden on the sewage infrastructure , but to upgrade and keep up with population growth as that area starts to or it continues to increase year to year.
S1: I've been speaking with researcher Ben Rico , along with Tiffany Curry from the musical group Laura and Tiffany. She's also a public policy coordinator with Outdoor Outreach and a co-leader of the Tijuana River coalition. The Air Summit Is Happening is kicking off today at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park , and that starts at 530. We'll have more details on our website at pbs.org. Ben Tiffany , thanks so much for being here.
S9: Thank you. Thanks so much , Andrew.
S11: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
